Gifted and Talented (GAT)

What is curriculum differentiation
Differentiation ranges from slight to major modifications of the curriculum through
adjustments to content, processes and skills. It provides a planned, documented
and challenging curriculum that matches the ability of gifted students to:
• learn at faster rates
• find, solve and act on problems more readily
• manipulate abstract ideas and make connections to an advanced
degree
Differentiation should include enrichment and extension activities. Enrichment
refers to the broadening of the curriculum to develop knowledge, application,
thinking skills and attitudes, to a degree of complexity appropriate to the
student’s developmental level (Braggett, 1997). Enrichment activities need to be
written into unit planners to ensure all students have access to them. Extension
activities involve the deepening of students’ knowledge, understanding and skills.
A differentiated curriculum is a program of activities that offers a variety of entry
points for students who differ in abilities, knowledge and skills. In a differentiated
curriculum, teachers offer different approaches to what students learn (content),
how students learn (process) and how students demonstrate what they have
learned (product). Differentiated instruction is a mix of whole-class, group and
individualised activities. (NSW Department of Education and Training, 2004)
Differentiated programming is:
• having high expectations for each student;
• permitting students to demonstrate mastery of material they already know
and to progress at their own pace through new material;
• providing different avenues to acquiring content, to processing or making
sense of ideas, and to developing products;
• providing multiple assignments within each unit, tailored for students with
differing levels of achievement;
• allowing students to choose, with the teacher’s guidance, ways to learn
and how to demonstrate what they have learned; and
• flexible: teachers move students in and out of groups, based on students’
instructional needs.
(Adapted from Tomlinson & Allan, 2000)
Prep GAT 11